Kevin Frisch: September at Shea Stadium

Friday

Sep 26, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 26, 2008 at 11:50 AM

“April is the cruelest month,” said T.S. Eliot. He obviously wasn’t a New York Mets fan. Because as any Mets fan can tell you, it is not April but September that is the cruelest month. Which means said fans have been suffering a little cruelty of late.

Kevin Frisch

“April is the cruelest month,” said T.S. Eliot. He obviously wasn’t a New York Mets fan — perhaps because he preferred his hometown St. Louis Cardinals; perhaps because he died in 1965, by which time the franchise, which joined the National League in 1962, had accumulated a record of 194 wins and 452 losses.

Because as any Mets fan can tell you, it is not April but September that is the cruelest month. Which means said fans have been suffering a little cruelty of late.

It wasn’t always this way. September was once kind to the Mets.

In 1973, the team opened its eyes on Sept. 1 to find itself in last place, a miserable 62-71 (but only 5 1/2 games out of first; it was a stinky division that year). They went on a 20-8 tear in September (and won the last game of the year Oct. 1) to finish first, at 83-79. (After defeating the Cincinnati Reds in the playoffs, that .509 winning percentage became the lowest of any pennant winner in history.)

And in 1969, the Amazins heated up in mid-August and blazed through September, going 23-7 en route to their first world championship. (Even then, hints of things to come: They became the first team to strike out 19 times in a nine-inning game on Sept. 15 and were no-hit by Bob Moose of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 20.)

But in later decades, things have more often gone awry late in the season. In 1987, a decent 16-12 record down the stretch was not enough to catch the Cardinals. In 1989, a sub-.500 September saw the team fade to second place behind the surging Chicago Cubs. In 1999, a seven-game losing streak late in the season contributed to their second-place finish (although they did make the playoffs as a wild card team).

And last year — last year! It hurts to even recall it. They won nine of their first 10 games in September. Some family members and I sat in the stands of Shea Stadium on the night of Sept. 10 and watched the home team beat the hated Atlanta Braves, 3-2; they had a seven-game lead with just 17 left to play. It would be almost impossible to blow that big a lead in that few a number of games. But the Mets found a way to do the impossible. They lost 12 of those last 17, ending the season in second place, one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

All of which is why we traveled to Shea in August this year. We were compelled to make one last visit; Shea Stadium will be torn down at the end of the season. And it will no doubt be one of the least-lamented ex-venues in sports. (Certainly it won’t be missed by my date, a farm girl who realized, once surrounded by 50,000 screaming Mets fans, that crowds make her anxious.) For the rest of us, it’s the tight-squeeze seating, the insufficient rest rooms and the uninspired field configurations that make Shea easy to say goodbye to.

The new home of the Mets, Citi Field (it’s right out there behind Shea’s outfield fence), was long overdue. In fact, since the Flushing venue welcomed its first fans in 1964, several teams (Pittsburgh and Cincinnati come to mind) have had new stadiums built, decided they were out-dated, then built yet newer stadiums.

There are now only seven games left to be played at Shea. Unfortunately, all in September. The team has started its annual late-season swoon and, as of this writing, lost four of its last five and dropped out of first place.

There have been sell-out crowds this month as the final games tick off and, barring a weather-necessitated schedule change, the last out will be made at Shea on Sept. 28.

Of course, there’s one other eventuality that could change that. Should the Mets shake off their customary late-season doldrums and make the playoffs, baseball will continue in Flushing into October. Through 2007, the Mets are 584-659 in September (.470). Come October, they’re 94-71 (.570). And if you consider only post-season games (that is, not regular-season games that bled into October), they’ve gone 43-31 (.581).

Shea Stadium may not be the most attractive, most comfortable or most storied venue ever to serve as home to a major league sports team, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it stick around a few extra weeks.